


come inside, baby, it's cold out there

by sungjin



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, M/M, Nuclear Winter, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 12:29:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18549793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sungjin/pseuds/sungjin
Summary: Donghyuck missed many things: his family, his friends, even his college lecture halls. He missed being loved, and loving others too. However, he didn't miss anything quite as much as he missed summer, and the warmth that would accompany it.





	come inside, baby, it's cold out there

Donghyuck sat down and observed the disarray in which the earth was now surrounded in. The sun was lost to dark clouds, and ash covered the ground on which he sat on. Sometimes he liked to go outside the safe house he created for himself and pretend that the world hadn’t fallen to pieces. Despite the fact that it had been seven months since he’d last saw a fellow human, Donghyuck wanted to act as if it was summer (even though there hadn’t been summer for years).

The house that he had taken over was humongous, a testament to what wealth used to mean to people. It seemed as if the people who used to live there had the political foresight to prepare for a world where nothing existed. Donghyuck laughed thinking about that: where were they now if they knew what would happen? It wouldn’t do him any good to dwell on that matter, so he continued in his venture to survive.

He’d been alone for almost a year now, after losing his companions in a violent storm that took place. Donghyuck had no idea where any of his family was, either, considering the fact that when disaster struck, he was away at college, supposedly safe in his shared dormitory. It was weird having nobody to talk to anymore, being isolated in such a manner was unusual to him. However, he’d seen so much evil take place after the beginning of the long winter, and so Donghyuck lacked the desire to find another person.

It became glaringly obvious that once the people realised what a catastrophic event had taken place, the existence of a government was unneeded. Politics was what landed them in this mess, and the response of many people was to descend into lawlessness. Some of this was valid, such as the stealing of items for food and safety. However, some of it was _dangerous_ , with people killing other people due to the lack of restrictions that existed anymore. It was with this that led Donghyuck to believe that people were naturally bad. As a result, he wished to have nothing to do with other people, with the fear of death being a constant.

In some ways, Donghyuck felt death would be better than this. He was alone without anybody to talk to, and was unable to live in the ways that he used to. Every new day came with the fear of death, where an unknown person could come into the place that he now resided in. Everyday he longed for his old life, but when he reminds himself of the masses of bodies and blood on the streets of the once thriving towns and cities, he knows deep down that life will never be the same again.

If summer ever returns, what could it possibly bring? Humanity had regressed to the point where people no longer believed that safety was a right. People could go outside and would either be killed by the harsh cold or the people surrounding them. He accustomed himself to such a life where it was do or die, where everybody was a threat.

At this point, Donghyuck found it ironic that his nickname used to be ‘Full Sun’. He used to thrive in the summer, the rays of the sun hitting his skin and giving him the beautiful complexion that he once had. His smile was once contagious, but now it barely existed. What was there to smile for now that the world had ended?

With a heaving sigh, he walked back into the house. Once upon a time, he would have dreamed to have a house like this. Coming from a poor background, all he yearned for was stability, and he was jealous of those who had it in all aspects. Now, money was worthless. Wealth meant nothing to him and everyone else, especially given the fact that they were all starving. Walking on the marbled floors of the hallway only symbolised how broken the world humanity once lived in was before the war, where people could live in massive homes like this whilst simultaneously ignoring the people like him, whose lives were marked by struggle.

One of the things that he loved about the house was the extensive library that the owners had. In a world of disorder, Donghyuck could find comfort in the books that were stored here. It allowed him to not face the boredom that he would have experienced without it. Many of the books were covered in dust, presumably from the lack of reading, with many first editions existing in such conditions. Donghyuck loved lounging in the decadence of the room, lying to himself saying that everything was normal, and that people weren’t regularly dying because of the cold.

He’d been living in this house for a good six months, and was able to bypass the security that had once protected it from the outside. Electricity was scarce, so the only things that stopped Donghyuck from entering were a couple of locks, making it easy for him to break in. He’d seen nobody walk past these streets in the time that he was here, giving him some sense of security.

However, that would soon change. A clambering sound coming from downstairs jolted Donghyuck out of his silent reading in the library. He grabbed his unloaded gun with the intention of scaring the other person away, and made the trek down the stairs.

Calmly, he tiptoed down the staircase to see who could be making the sounds. As he made his descent, he heard slow footsteps, akin to his own. He regretted not coming with an actual weapon at this moment, but he persisted with his venture nonetheless.

From the point at which he stood in Donghyuck could see the back of a head. The person had a tall stature and had bent down in the middle of the hallway, looking at something in his hands.

“Who are you?” Donghyuck called out, holding his gun out in front of him. The person had dropped the item that he was holding – a framed photo? – and turned to Donghyuck instantly, putting his hands up when he spotted the gun.

“I promise I won’t hurt you, please put the gun down.” The person said with in a trembling voice. Donghyuck felt bad, but he didn’t let this deter him from getting closer. He knew that he couldn’t do anything to the other boy but if he could scare him away then he’d feel so much more at ease.

 “Who _are_ you?” Donghyuck repeated. He was getting increasingly more scared himself as the person stood there. He still couldn’t eliminate him as a threat, even though he seemingly had nothing with him.

“Y-Yukhei, m-my parents owned this house.” The boy said in continuing fear.

A wave of recognition washed down Donghyuck, how could it not? Yukhei’s face was plastered around the house in numerous family photos.

He lowered his gun. In such a situation, what could he do? Yukhei was the rightful owner of the house but their new world meant that that didn'd matter anymore. So many questions ran through Donghyuck's mind, but one stood out, it was the most pressing at this moment.

"How are you still alive?"

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading!!! this is my first chaptered fic so hyuckhei nation enjoy?!?! i may not upload another chapter for a month or two because of exams but after that this will have longer, more regular updates!!!!!


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